Don't Step On A Bee Day

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

You probably don't realize it, but this is National Don't Step on a Bee Day, a day to honor those bees around us which contribute so greatly to our way of life.

We know, you were stung once when you were little, maybe more than once. But do you realize all the good that bees do for us?

Just take pollination alone. Bees are the main creatures responsible for pollinating our flowering plants and foods. In fact, they're responsible for 80 percent of insect crop pollination overall. The direct value of honey bee pollination is worth $14.6 billion to U.S. agriculture.

Without bees, it would be an ugly world indeed, without any bright, fragrant flowers to enjoy. Without bees, there would be no fruits to enjoy. Without bees, we would plunge into world famine and all starve to death.

For eons, bees have enjoyed a special role in civilization. Viking, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon warriors fortified themselves with mead, a honey wine that inspired poets and bards and skalds even to this day. Who knows, without bees, and honey, and hence mead, perhaps we would have never had the poem Beowulf.

While flowers are beautiful, it's the beautiful, beloved buzz of bees that makes them so. And did you realize that the dance that bees do for one another tells other bees how far it is to the next batch of flowers? Who said they were beeing stupid.

So, whatever you do, don’t step on a bee today!

(Or ever. You might get stung. They perch with their butts up in the air.)

This Day in History July 10th

American Revolution: Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain. (1778)

Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Mackenzie River delta. (1789)

The United States takes possession of its newly bought territory of Florida from Spain. (1821)

The U.S. President Andrew Jackson vetoes a bill that would re-charter the Second Bank of the United States. (1832)

Millard Fillmore is inaugurated as the 13th President of the United States upon the death of President Zachary Taylor, 16 months into his term. (1850)

Wyoming is admitted as the 44th U.S. state. (1890)

Death Valley, California, hits 134 °F (~56.7 °C), the highest temperature recorded in the United States. (1913)

Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called "Monkey Trial" begins with John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act. (1925)

Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91-hour airplane flight around the world. (1938)

World War II: Battle of Britain – The German Luftwaffe begins attacking British convoys in the English Channel thus starting the battle (this start date is contested, though). (1940)

Jedwabne Pogrom: the massacre of Jewish people living in and near the village of Jedwabne in Poland. (1941)

Diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and the Soviet Union are established. (1942)

World War II: An American pilot spots a downed, intact Mitsubishi A6M Zero on Akutan Island (the "Akutan Zero") that the US Navy uses to learn the aircraft's flight characteristics. (1942)

Hungarian hyperinflation sets a record with inflation of 348.46 percent per day, or prices doubling every eleven hours. (1946)

Telstar, the world's first communications satellite, is launched into orbit. (1962)

The Chicago Freedom Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. As many as 60,000 people come to hear Dr. King as well as Mahalia Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Peter Paul and Mary. (1966)